Written with the aim of increasing public interest in the study of religion, this primer makes available, to both the student and layman alike, a substantial amount of practical information about the modern non-theological study of religion. Focusing on three key areas of interest -- (1) the difficulties in defining religion, (2) the secularization / desecularization debate, and (3) an overview of Prof. Rudolf J. Siebert's (b.1927) critical theory of religion -- the reader will easily gain a broad, but thorough, overview of the sociology of religion.